The second leg of The Amazing Race gave us thrills, spills, and Beau Ryan in Speedos. The teams left Far North Queensland and headed south to Australia’s adrenaline capital, the Gold Coast.
Before the race officially kicked off for the day, we found out that despite coming second at the first Pit Stop, The Twin Models, Alex and Jack, had bravely chosen to withdraw from the Race due to Alex’s mental health.
The remaining twelve teams were tasked with finding their way to Kirra Beach, to perform a challenge with Australia’s iconic lifesavers. Using a series of life saver signals, one teammate directed their other half in an Inflatable Rescue Boat, to a set of numbered buoys.
After the rundown of how the challenge would work, I turned to my partner and asked “how the hell are they meant to do that?!” and frankly, I stand by that assessment. The waves were rough, The Geek couldn’t see his Princess, and Jordan from The Dancing Exes became airborne and capsized. It was chaos. Somehow though, all the teams managed to pass the test.
Last to leave the beach were The Power Couple and The Mums, and just as The Mums raced to hail down a cab – which turns out, had been booked by Holly and Dolor – an icy exchange ensued, as Dolor told The Mums to vacate the cab, refusing to share. Ouch.
Next, the Detour saw the teams chose between learning a synchronized swim routine and finding a special golden token in classic Aussie Ugg boots. Uggs sounds easy, right? Guess again. With hundreds to choose from, and some loaded with set mouse traps, this was no easy feat.
For some reason, Holly and Dolor chose synchronised swimming, even though Dolor isn’t a very strong swimmer. A few tantrums and seven attempts later, they finished the Detour in last place.
Finishing their Detours quickly, The Parents, Shane and Deb, and The Super Sikhs, Jaskirat and Anurag, raced toward the Roadblock, which saw one team member race a dirt bike around a track in 55 seconds or less.
In last place again, were The Power Couple, who caught up to The Mums at the dirt track. Dolor was quick to assume he could overtake Shannon, but was left eating Shannon’s dirt. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t satisfying to watch.
The next location was Wet‘n’Wild water park, because of course it was. It’s The Amazing Race on the Gold Coast, was there any other option? Teams had to race down a free fall water slide, before arriving at the Pit Stop.
The Super Sikhs slid down to first place at the Pit Stop, yet again. Not only did they maintain their lead, but they also received a First Class Pass, meaning they won’t compete in the next lead and cannot be eliminated.
And if that wasn’t enough of a win, The Super Sikhs were handed this season’s new powerplays: the Salvage and Sabotage. A Salvage is a bonus or advantage of some kind given to one team. A Sabotage is a disadvantage or setback given to one team.
After Beau revealed this leg was a predetermined non-elimination leg, in a valiant effort to make a fair choice, The Super Sikhs awarded the Salvage to The Power Couple and the Sabotage to The Mums.
The Amazing Race Australia continues Wednesday, 3 February At 7.30pm.
